Ken Borland

Tremendous centuries by Zubayr Hamza and Mitchell van Buuren, and an ensemble effort in terms of support saw the Central Gauteng Lions grab a 90-run first-innings lead over the KwaZulu-Natal Inland Tuskers on the third day of their CSA 4-Day Domestic Series match at the Wanderers on Friday.

Having posted an impressive 435 all out, the Lions then reduced the Tuskers to 45 for two at stumps, the visitors still trailing by 45 runs and certainly the stage is set for an exciting final day.

The Lions were in some difficulty at the start of their first innings, slipping to 43 for three before Hamza and Van Buuren provided some stability late on the second evening.

The pair of former junior provincial hockey stars resumed their partnership on 125 for three on Friday and that stand grew to considerable proportions as they went on to add 183 for the fourth wicket.

Hamza reached his third first-class century this season off 150 balls when he pounced on a quick single from a misfield at square-leg, and anyone who viewed the four-hour innings would have been thoroughly entertained as he stroked 13 stylish boundaries along the way.

He eventually fell for 101 though when he edged an attempted cut off spinner Michael Erlank to wicketkeeper Cameron Shekleton.

Having removed Hamza, the visitors then found getting rid of Van Buuren to be a whole different challenge. The promising 25-year-old marched on to 132 off 262 deliveries, batting for six hours and 20 minutes as he took the Lions into the lead.

Van Buuren scored all around the wicket, but was particularly strong square, collecting 13 fours and a six in his determined innings, which was his second century of the season.

The lower-order as a group did very well for the Lions, the last six wickets adding 209 runs.

Wandile Makwetu made 34 as he added 60 for the fifth wicket with Van Buuren, and Malusi Siboto scored 34 as he put on 75 for the seventh wicket with the centurion.

Left-arm spinner Malcolm Nofal, the most successful of the Tuskers bowlers with three for 86 in 25 overs, then took a couple of quick wickets to reduce the Lions to 396 for nine. But the visitors’ toil was not over yet as Codi Yusuf smacked 37 off 43 balls and Duanne Olivier made 19 not out as they added 39 for the last wicket, giving the Lions a pleasing lead.

Yusuf was then a successful performer with the new ball as he produced a superb delivery, bouncing and seaming away, to have Inland opener Yaseen Valli caught behind for 3.

Tshepo Moreki then struck in his first over, moving the ball sharply both ways to confuse Thamsanqa Khumalo, who was then bowled shouldering arms for 1.

The other opening batsman, Ben Compton, stood firm as he reached 27 not out at stumps.

The Central Gauteng Lions will have the services of the second new ball first thing on the final morning as they mount a last-ditch effort to win their CSA 4-Day Series match against the North-West Dragons at the Wanderers on Thursday.

Having posted a formidable 504 for five declared, but also having lost the majority of the second day’s play to a wet outfield and bad light, the Lions had reduced North-West to 342 for seven at stumps on Wednesday’s third day.

The visitors are still 13 runs shy of preventing the Lions from enforcing the follow-on, which will surely be their most likely route to victory. Even a lead of 125 will force the home side to bat for some time on the final day, into the afternoon and therefore leaving them with too few overs remaining to bowl out the Dragons on a good batting pitch.

The Lions strived nobly with the ball and at 226 for six, they seemed poised to dismiss North-West well short of the follow-on mark of 355.

But there was some determined, pugnacious cricket by the visitors’ lower-order and Migael Pretorius, with a defiant 68 not out, and Duan Jansen, who is in similarly stubborn mood on 30 not out and has already played some fantastic drives down the ground, will resume battle on the final morning.

They have added a crucial 68 for the eighth wicket, and before that, Pretorius put on 48 for the seventh wicket with Senuran Muthusamy, who scored a solid 45 in two-and-a-half hours at the crease.

Having suffered some traumatic damage with the ball, the Dragons actually enjoyed a solid start to their first innings, reaching 111 for one as Grant Mokoena made 43 and Raynard van Tonder stroked a commanding 87 off 114 balls.

But Tshepo Moreki found the edges of both Mokoena and Wihan Lubbe’s bats as they tried to leave, bowling the former and having the latter smartly taken by Wiaan Mulder at second slip.

Duanne Olivier claimed the key wicket of Van Tonder, caught behind as the ball just nipped away from him, and spinner Bjorn Fortuin then made inroads.

Ruan de Swardt and Mika-eel Prince, skying a slog-sweep, were both caught-and-bowled by Fortuin, who then trapped Muthusamy lbw as he missed a sweep.

Before North-West came out to bat, Zubayr Hamza and Mulder were both able to complete their centuries for the Lions.

Given the frustrations of the second day, it seemed ages ago that Hamza came to the crease, but he was quickly into three figures for the first time since moving to Central Gauteng, having started the day on 96 with the Lions on 385 for three.

The stylish Proteas player scored an authoritative 118 off 169 deliveries, building superbly on the first-day top-order contributions of Josh Richards (82), Dominic Hendricks (64) and Ryan Rickelton (58).

Mulder finished with 121 from 131 balls, a classy innings from someone who has shown a great thirst for runs already this season.

He and Hamza enjoyed a quick thrash-about for runs on Wednesday morning, aided by Wandile Makwetu’s punishing 36 not out off just 20 balls, which included three sixes, before the declaration came an hour before lunch.

Some may argue they should have declared before they did, but then the Dragons would have already have saved the follow-on and the Lions would be needing a miracle to win.

As it stands, they need three wickets for less than 13 runs, with a brand new ball, on the final morning to give them hope.

David Warner’s historic unbeaten double-century in his 100^th Test will be what is most remembered from the second day of the second Test between Australia and South Africa at the MCG on Tuesday, but Anrich Nortje’s phenomenal effort with the ball should not be forgotten either.

Although Nortje finished with figures of just one for 50 in 16 overs as Australia piled up 386 for three and Warner retired hurt with severe cramp after scoring 200 off just 254 balls, his fiery, indefatigable fast bowling certainly caught the imagination of the 42 000 people at the MCG.

Nortje strung together some of the fastest overs recorded in Test cricket, consistently exceeding 150km/h for lengthy periods, and his endurance on a sweltering day when the temperature touched 40° was incredible. Even the notorious Bay 13 spectators were charmed by Nortje, who signed many autographs on various items, downed a bottle of water for their entertainment and had his warm-up routine mimicked by the crowd, as they used to do most famously for Australian fast bowler Merv Hughes.

Not even being struck to the ground by spidercam could get Nortje down.

“I was just trying to get a breakthrough, be more aggressive and bring out the pace. I wasn’t bowling as quickly as I can, but I did try to speed it up,” Nortje said after a torrid day’s play for the Proteas.

“Bowling the one over on the first day, I felt I needed to adjust to the wicket, which is a good one. There’s a bit of a slope upwards and my focus was on getting my momentum through the crease rather than jumping up.

“It started clicking and then you can push a bit more when you feel you have the momentum, you just ride it and not try to force anything else. I felt I had good rhythm and just tried to come as hard as I can.

“It’s a good wicket for batting, but if you can hit good areas over time then you can get reward, good bumpers can make the batsmen a bit uncomfortable. Unfortunately it just didn’t work out for us today,” Nortje said.

Warner became just the second batsman after England’s Joe Root to score a double century in his 100^th Test, and the veteran left-hander became the eighth Australian to score 8000 Test runs. It was his first Test century in nearly three years.

“He batted really well, hats off to him for the energy and fight he showed,” Nortje said.

The South African men’s hockey team has had to overcome miscellaneous challenges ranging from the shock departure of their coach to having to pay thousands of rands to compete and having to stay in a boarding house in Potchefstroom, so their victory in the FIH Nations Cup at the weekend was a remarkable, most praiseworthy effort.

More important than winning the trophy itself, the thrilling 4-3 victory over Ireland in the final means South Africa get the single qualification spot for the 2023/24 FIH Pro League, where they will compete on a regular basis with top teams like Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and India.

South Africa beat Malaysia, France, Canada and Ireland, all teams higher up on the world rankings, to achieve this brilliant feat.

One can only salute the skill, hunger and determination the team showed in the final; they produced some sublime attacking hockey, led by inspirational 22-year-old captain and player of the tournament Dayyaan Cassiem, but their defence, marshalled by veteran Jethro Eustice, was exceptional as they held off numerous Irish onslaughts in the final quarter.

With so much on the line, one can only praise interim coach Cheslin Gie and his charges for showing tremendous composure.

One hopes there are assorted sponsors lining up to support them now that they are going to be getting regular exposure on the global stage. A capacity crowd in Potchefstroom, a fully transformed team and the exciting brand of hockey they play should make it one of the easier sales for SA Hockey to now pull off.

Hockey has enormous support at grassroots level with it being one of the most popular school sports, so the potential for sustained growth is big, providing they get the right backing and the administration is focused on selling the game.

The World Cup in India in January is the next major event on the international hockey calendar and an opportunity for South Africa to move closer to their long-term goal of getting into the top-10 of the rankings.